Anna woke early the following morning, and silently dressed

Of Needles, Shrivelfigs, and

Trick Stairways

Chapter IX

Anna woke early the following morning, and dressed in her new robes.

The heavy blue curtains of the other beds were still drawn, and the sun was just now breaking through the clouds low on the horizon. Anna tiptoed over to the open window, carefully not to wake her sleeping roommates, and poked her head out into the chilly morning air. She smiled as she looked over the grounds of the castle. It was just now sinking in that she was really here – that she was a student at Hogwarts. It seemed like some wonderful dream, one that she had yet to wake up from.

She walked back over to her suitcase, sitting at the foot of her bed. She opened it quietly, and went about taking out and arranging her school things. She grinned at the bottle of color change ink, and slipped it into her bag, along with several quills and scrolls of parchment. Lisa was stirring in the bed next to hers. Anna glanced at the wristwatch Lisa had left on her nightstand. It was already seven o'clock. Greymalkin yawned, letting out a tiny 'merrow'. Anna grinned at him, falling back on her bed to pet him. "You behave yourself today, Malkie," she giggled, kissing the kitten's nose. He scrunched up into a ball, batting at her hand playfully.

Mandy threw open her bed curtains, and got out, fully dressed. "Did you sleep like that?" Anna laughed.

"Yup. Easier to get up in the morning." Mandy padded over to Padma's bed, and opened the curtains. "Oi, lazy! Time to get up."

Anna heard a laugh from Lisa's bed. Lisa flung open the blue curtains. "Good morning everyone. Is Ophelia up?" Mandy walked over to Ophelia's bed.

"Felia?"

Just then, Ophelia walked in through the door of the dorm. "I'm here. Just thought I'd get in some studying before we start our classes today. I went down to the common room, I didn't want to disturb anybody."

Mandy goggled at her. Padma just laughed, and threw a pillow at Mandy's head. "That's what you get for waking me up, Brocklehurst!" A pillow fight ensued between the two girls, and kept up until Padma decided she'd better change. She pulled the curtains once more, and in moments, she hopped out, fully dressed. "Now that is the difference between me and my sister. She is not a morning person."

"And you are?" Mandy snorted.

"I think that prize goes to Ophelia and Anna," Padma commented. "Well, shall we?" she motioned down the stairs.

The Great Hall didn't take that long to find, as the girls followed a crowd of fourth years down from the Common Room. Anna couldn't help but gaze up at the ceiling as they entered. It was a sunny day, judging by the bright blue sky, and windy. The clouds flew by overhead as Anna seated herself between Lisa and Mandy.

"Pass the pumpkin juice?"

Anna did as she was told, peering into the jug. The contents were an orange color, and appeared to be what Padma had said. Anna didn't comment, but Lisa did.

"Pumpkin juice? How odd?"

Padma and Mandy exchanged a look, but hid their smiles as they helped themselves to eggs, sausage and toast.

Penelope Clearwater came over to them, and handed out their timetables. "Have a wonderful first day!" she told them as she continued down the table.

"Transfiguration today. Cool!" commented Mandy.

"Which one is that again?" asked Lisa.

"That's where you take one object, and magically change it to another," replied Padma. "Just like the name. Trans – you know, to change something?"

"Oh."

Just then, a great shadow fell over the hall. Anna looked up, and thought for one moment that the sky was falling. The next, she quickly corrected herself as she noticed the dark shapes had wings. The owls swooped over the tables, dropping packages and letters in the laps of their masters. Mandy and Ophelia received their letters without surprise. But Anna was rather shocked as a large grey barn owl swooped over, and dropped a letter in her lap. She smiled as she recognized Witt's fancy hand, and tucked the letter into her robe to read after class. Mandy ripped her letter open, and Ophelia sliced the seal on hers with her butter knife. Mandy finished her letter rather quickly, scribbled something on the back, and tied it to the leg of the owl who was standing by.

"This is Helena, by the way," Mandy told them as she threw the owl up into the air. "She's my owl, I got her for my birthday last June. Mum just wanted to make sure I'd gotten here okay – hadn't blown up the Hogwarts Express or anything."

Ophelia was taking her time with her letter, her eyes glued to the parchment. Padma looked up, as another girl, two tables down called out her name. Anna blinked, to make sure she wasn't seeing double. Padma and her twin really were identical. "Write Mum, she says hello!"

Anna turned to say something to Lisa, but stopped as she realized that she hadn't received any mail.

"How are you going to keep in touch with your father?" she asked.

"Someone told us that the school has owls you can send out. I'm going to mail him today, after class."

As soon as the plates were magically cleared, the girls headed up the grand staircase in search of the Transfiguration classroom. They had to stop several times, to ask older students for help. Once, they ran across the Friar that had appeared before the sorting – the resident ghost of Hufflepuff. He was extremely helpful, offering to lead them there. So the group arrived, a bit out of breath, but on time for their first class.

Anna was quite pleased to see McGonagall was the teacher. She liked something about her no-nonsense air, something that reminded her of Witt. McGonagall gave them a lecture as soon as they all were seated, about the importance of Transfiguration, and how anyone caught fooling around in class would leave and not be welcomed back. Anna sat up straighter in her chair, rapt in attention.

It proved to be a fascinating class. McGonagall turned her desk into a pig, and back again, much to Anna's delight. The class took several pages of notes on the theory of Transfiguration, but Anna enjoyed even this, writing down her own little explanations, and drawing little pictures where needed. She glanced over at Lisa's notes, to get a sentence she'd missed, and she noticed the little doodles all over Lisa's page as well. Most were explanations and diagrams of the subject, but there was also a pony, and a girl with pigtails who looked very much like Anna. Anna grinned, and mouthed that's wonderful!

Lisa blushed, but smiled, and mouthed back Thanks!

McGonagall handed out matches, which the students were supposed to turn into needles. Anna quickly reread her notes several times. She really wanted to get this right. Toward the end of class, she looked about, worried that her needle still had no eye. When she saw Mandy and Padma struggling to make theirs silver and pointy, she felt a certain sense of satisfaction. Indeed, she was one of only three who had managed to make her match anything close to a needle. Lisa had managed to get her match the correct shape, but seemed to be having trouble converting it from wood to metal. Anna gave her a few tips, and the needle began to take on a shiny appearance. Mandy looked enviously across the table. "You're a natural, at this, I reckon." McGonagall praised her as well, showing the needle to the class, eye and all. "Very good, Miss Moon," she said, giving Anna a rare smile.

All in all, it was a wonderful first day. Anna read Witt's letter that night, writing her a hasty note back, detailing all the events of the day. She went up to the owlery with Lisa to send their letters off. It was a fascinating place, with a wonderful view of the grounds. The two girls stood by the window for the longest time, talking and watching the sun set red on the horizon.

On Tuesday, the girls had Herbology. After breakfast, they ran from the Great Hall down to the greenhouses below the courtyard. At the doorway, Padma checked, causing Mandy to bump into her.

"Hey, watch where you're – "

Mandy stopped as she spotted the cause of Padma's sudden halt. "Slytherins…" she muttered, saying the word like a curse.

The girls seated themselves at a table, and were getting out their notebooks, when Pansy Parkinson made her entrance. She walked over toward the table where Draco Malfoy was seated, telling his troll-like friends some tale with elaborate hand motions. Draco looked up at her, smirking. She turned, and seated herself at the next table over, the table next to the Ravenclaw girls. At this moment, Professor Sprout walked in, and started the lesson. They were to prune the shrivelfig bushes she had brought in, so they would grow and be used for Potions class. She passed out the plants and shears, explaining the medicinal properties of the shrivelfigs. Mandy glowered at Pansy, but she didn't seem to notice the Ravenclaws at all. She was too busy gazing at Malfoy, Anna laughed to herself. The girls pruned their bushes in silence. It wasn't until Lisa sneezed that Pansy noticed the group.

She looked down her short nose at the five girls, her mouth crinkling up as if she smelled something rather disgusting. Her eyes caught on Padma, who was wearing an expression of equal disgust.

"Hello Patil. Heard your sister found herself a boyfriend. That Longbottom idiot."

Mandy leaned forward, as if she thought she might have to hold Padma back. But Padma coolly replied, "You'd better not let Parvati hear you talking about her, Pansy. She'd beat you into a bloody pulp, and you know it."

Pansy blushed a bit at this, but kept staring straight at the group. Her gaze fell on Anna and Lisa. "Associating with muggles and the help, are we now?"

Mandy moved forward at this. "You ignorant prick!"

"Excuse me?"

Mandy waved her pruning shears at Pansy in a threatening way. Anna took them from her hand and set them on the table, next to the shrivelfig bush. She spoke in a low, even voice, but her hand shook as she picked up her potted plant.

"I don't see any Muggles or servants here, Pansy. You are obviously mistaken. Lisa and I have as much of a right to be here as you do."

Pansy opened her mouth to make another nasty remark, but just then, Professor Sprout wandered over.

"Need any help girls?"

Lisa smiled weakly. "No thank you, we're managing."

The girls continued to glare at each other over their plants as the professor walked over to the next table.

After class, Anna collected her things in a hurry, and stalked out. The other four followed close behind. Anna furiously blinked back tears. How dare that girl try and ruin her second day here? The nerve! Padma caught up to her.

"I see you've met Pansy already?"

Anna nodded curtly. "Unfortunately. On the train here. She was positively awful." By this point, the other three were even with them, all peering at Anna questioningly. Lisa looked paler than usual, if that was possible.

"She lives in the same area as I do," said Padma, "and Parvati and I were always forced to play with her. We used to play great tricks on her, she was always such a spoiled brat." Padma sighed. "What a jerk."

"She deserves Draco Malfoy completely," commented Anna.

Padma stopped in her tracks. "What?!"

"Malfoy. She likes Draco Malfoy. What, she never mentioned him to you?"

"Goodness, no," Padma chuckled. "Like she would ever – oh, my!" She had to hold her side from the combined efforts of jogging to keep up with Anna and laughing. "That is the best thing I've heard in a long time." Her dark eyes glinted mischievously.

"What are you on about?" asked Mandy.

"Pansy. She likes Malfoy!"

"Does Malfoy know about this?"

"I don't think so," responded Anna. "At least it didn't sound like it he knew when she talked of it on the train."

"Excellent!"

"You have to do this properly though," interjected Ophelia.

"Yeah," added Mandy. "We have to embarrass her as much as possible."

The girls all giggled at this. Pansy breezed by them, nose in the air. As soon as she had passed, they broke out howling.

"She deserves it," said Anna firmly. "Anything we can do…"

On Wednesday, the girls had Charms. Anna liked the tiny Professor Flitwick already, but she could tell that he was going to be a good teacher as well as a good Head of House. She listened intently, and copied the notes off the board. He demonstrated the Lumos and Nox charms, and Anna was thrilled to be among those to raise her hand when he asked who had already tried these spells.

"Good then," he squeaked, surveying the half of the class with arms raised. "Partner up with someone who's never tried it before." Anna was quite happy to be paired with Lisa, who was sitting at the space on her right. Pretty soon, the class was full of twinkling wand tips, going off and on like lightening bugs. Lisa caught on right away. She grinned at Anna. "A good spell for reading under the covers late at night, huh?"

"Precisely."

But while Wednesdays class was wonderful – Thursday was the exact opposite. Ophelia dug her timetable out of her satchel at breakfast that morning, and Mandy, who was glancing over her shoulder, made a face.

"What is it?" Lisa inquired.

"Potions. I've heard the teacher is terrible."

"You shouldn't try to prejudice them before we've even had the class," chided Ophelia. "It's hardly fair, and besides, Potions are fascinating."

Mandy looked at her as if she'd grown an extra head.

"Actually, I agree," said Padma through a mouthful of toast. "But I've heard Professor Snape is awful. I suppose I'll just have to try and stay out of it…"

The four others grinned at each other. The day Padma stayed 'out of' something would be the day that pigs could fly. Though, Anna reminded herself, that was completely possible at Hogwarts.

They arrived early, so as not to invoke the wrath of the Potions master, and took seats near the back of the class. Professor Snape swept in. He was rather frightening looking, Anna thought, with that hooked nose and those cold eyes. The rest of the class filed in, including some children who weren't in Anna's other classes. She glanced over at Mandy.

"Hufflepuffs," she mouthed back.

"Certainly better than Tuesday's group," Anna murmured.

"Don't let Snape catch you saying that, or it'll be points and detention on your first day," whispered Padma.

Anna couldn't help but believe this as Professor Snape turned to see where the murmuring was coming from, and fixed them with an imperious glare. Luckily, at this time Terry Boot strode in.

"You're late boy. What is your name?"

Terry was caught a bit off guard. He stopped, one foot still in the air.

"Er, Boot. Terry Boot sir."

"And what house do you belong to, Boot?"

"Ravenclaw sir."

Professor Snape glanced down at his list. "Five points from Ravenclaw, Boot. Be seated."

Terry's jaw dropped a bit, but he walked over to a free seat by a Hufflepuff boy, and sat down. The class was dead silent. Snape smiled coldly.

He gave them a little speech, about the class, ending with a remark about the supposed intelligence and hard work of the houses present. He made it sound like an insult, Anna noted. She sunk down in her seat a bit. Padma, however, sat up straighter, looking at Snape as if daring him to ask her the first question.

After calling the role, he glanced about once more. "So," he said with a smirk, "we get to test the brainpower of Ravenclaw." Anna felt this was a bit unfair, as Hufflepuffs made up half the class. Adding them into the equation would have also heightened her chances of not being picked to answer his questions. "You there," Anna felt her heart stop, and Padma stiffened at her side. No, not you. You, Miss Patil. What type of egg can be eaten whole as a cure for ague?"

"That would be an Ashwinder egg sir."

Snape got up from his desk and stood with his arms crossed, looking rather menacing. "Well, well," he muttered, rather sarcastically. "Miss Patil has done her summer reading. Miss Fawcett, what are the feathers of a Jobberknoll used for?"

"Jobberknoll feathers are a basic ingredient of any potion having to do with the mind, such as Memory Potions and Truth Serums," Ophelia recited. Professor Snape gazed at her for a moment, as if daring her to smile. Ophelia merely blinked at him, a little perplexed, and he turned to Lisa.

"Miss…" he looked at his scroll of names "Turpin, what is the difference between monkshead and wolfsbane?"

Lisa's pale skin turned a rosy color. "I don't know sir."

Finally, the look of superiority returned to his face. "And what house would you be in?"

"Ravenclaw," she whispered, her hair falling over her red cheeks as she looked at her hands folded in her lap.

Professor Snape raised an eyebrow. "And why is no one copying this down? Get out your books. We will be starting at chapter two, page thirty-seven." There was a rustle of paper as everyone rummaged through their bags. Beneath the cover of the noise, Anna leaned over to Lisa, her cheeks still bright pink, and muttered, "Don't worry, I had no clue about that either. I think he's perfectly horrid."

Lisa gave Anna a half smile as she brought her quill out of her bag.

After taking several sheets of notes, the class was told to pair up. Lisa looked toward Anna, but Anna nudged her toward Padma instead. Better for one person in the group to know what was going on. Mandy paired up with Ophelia, so Anna tapped the shoulder of the girl in front of her.

"Do you want to be partners?"

The girl looked thoroughly relieved. "Your name is Anna? I'm Susan. Here, we can use my cauldron." Anna left her desk, and moved up a seat to join her at the cauldron.

"Do you have a clue what's going on here?" Susan whispered.

"Not the faintest."

"Oh… well me neither. Mum always tried to get me to help her when she made things, but I'm really hopeless. Can't seem to follow instructions, as hard as I try, I jumble them all up."

Susan was cut off as Professor Snape explained the potion they would be making. Anna felt the nervousness rising in her stomach. She wished she had asked Padma or Ophelia to help her review before class.

"Okay," she said, "once he was finished. "How about I read, and tell you what to so, and you measure out the ingredients and stirred them in?"

Susan nodded her head, sending her blonde pigtails bobbing. "All right."

Professor Snape walked around, hovering over each pair, and making snide comments about the runniness or color of their potions. He was just moving toward Anna and Susan (the later started stirring much more quickly than necessary due to her nervousness) when Padma called out…

"Professor, we're finished."

Professor Snape whipped around, and glided over to the cauldron where Padma and Lisa were working. He leered at the potion, but couldn't seem to find anything bad to say about it. "And how did Miss Turpin help?" he asked after a moment.

"She measured and mixed the last six ingredients," said Padma defiantly.

Snape regarded the two girls carefully. "Well done Miss Patil. Maybe your friend here can be helped yet." With that, he stalked off over to the overflowing cauldron where Terry and Justin the Hufflepuff were working.

The class continued on like this, with Professor Snape swooping about the dungeon like an overgrown bat. Anna and Susan managed to make their potion satisfactory, especially when compared with some of the others. Terry's potion was now a bright orange, instead of the dull green of the others. In any case, Anna was quite glad when the bell rang. She hurriedly scribble down her homework and gathered her things. Mandy and Lisa seemed rather eager to leave as well, but Padma held them up.

"Just a second." She took a tiny crystal phial, and poured a bit of the potion in through a funnel.

"What are you doing?" asked Mandy, staring at the phial.

Padma popped a cork on it. "Keeping samples," she said brightly. "So I can compare if I ever need to make it again."

Mandy just shook her head. "Well, now I see why you're in Ravenclaw."

Padma scowled, throwing her bag over her shoulder. "Come on, let's go."

On Friday afternoon, the girls had a bit of an adventure, involving the staircase they had taken up to their first History of Magic class, on Tuesday afternoon. DADA had been fairly boring. The textbook was interesting, however, and instead of listening to the stammering Professor, Anna read. Something about the man struck her as funny – but then again, Anna hadn't seen many people who wore turbans before. She was rather glad to be done with the class for the week. But now, the girls were running five minutes late.

Lisa glanced about. "It's this staircase, right?"

Ophelia nodded, and they headed up toward the fourth floor. They came out at the top, and turned the corner. Anna frowned. "This isn't right."

"Sure it is," said Mandy. "Same thing we did last time." They turned the corner, and stopped, staring at the entrance of the Great Hall.

"What?!" cried Lisa.

Padma shook her head, covering her face in her hands. Ophelia moaned.

"Oh, dear. Julie told me about this – there's a stair that takes you a different place on Fridays. That must have been it!"

"So how do we get there?"

"There's got to be a different way," said Anna, "there has to be."

"A different way where?" The girls turned to see Roger Davies.

"Why aren't you in class?" Anna asked. "You'll be late."

"Yeah, but so will you, if you don't hurry. Where do you need to go?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Professor Binns room, fourth floor," Lisa piped up.

"Oh, that's not hard. Wait – did you take the trick stairs?" he asked, trying to hide a grin. The girls nodded sheepishly. "I have DADA next anyway, and that's up there as well."

"Oh," said Anna, "we had that his morning."

"Have fun?" he asked, leading them through a tapestry, into another hall.

"Not really." Anna crinkled her nose. "The teacher seemed pretty silly, if you ask me."

"Oh, Quirrell? Yeah, he's a basket case. But it's still a neat class."

"Well, at least the textbook's interesting," Anna sighed.

Roger just shook his head. "You and your books. Well," he said, as they turned another corner, "here you are. Think you can remember how to get here next time?"

"Yes, some of us were paying attention," said Padma, smiling at Anna in a strange way. Anna shook this off as they crept into the back of the classroom, trying to be as quiet as possible. There was really no need for this, as Professor Binns didn't even look at them, just continued lecturing. This caused Mandy and Lisa to go off in a fit of silent giggles as the other girls brought out their quills and started to take notes.

By the last week of the month, the schedule seemed like second nature to Anna. Each girl had their favorite class. Anna's was by far Transfiguration, while Mandy loved Charms. Lisa was equally split between the two. Padma, for some strange reason, truly enjoyed Potions, and Ophelia was quite in earnest when she told Anna that she loved them all. At least until a certain notice made it's way up in the Ravenclaw Common Room.

"Flying Lessons?!"

"All right!" cheered Padma.

Lisa turned to look at her, her violet eyes wide in her pale face. "Flying? Like on broomsticks?"

"Yeah – it's great, you'll love it!"

While Lisa looked rather pale, Anna was thinking to herself what a grand adventure this would be. Her thoughts were interrupted however, by a voice from over her left shoulder.

"So, are you excited?"

Anna turned to face the speaker. Oh. It was just Roger. "Well," she said carefully, "I suppose I am."

"Suppose? What's that supposed to mean? Flying's the second best reason for being a wizard, and as Quidditch is the first, it's very important to know."

Anna tried not to laugh at this. "Okay Roger. Whatever you say."

"I hardly think Quidditch is the most exciting thing about being a wizard," commented Ophelia.

Padma looked at her critically. "Just because you'd rather read than fly…"

"I'd rather read than do anything!" Anna interrupted, noting the look on Ophelia's face.

"Well," said Roger, sensing the tension between the girls, "the first match of the year is coming up soon. Slytherin against Gryffindor. And Gryffindor still doesn't have a seeker, though Wood would never admit it to me." He grinned, shaking his head. "Anyway, you should all be there – especially you two." He nodded at Anna and Lisa. "You've never seen a Quidditch match before, have you Lisa?"

"No, but I think I will like watching," she said with a slight smile.

"Well, in that case…" his voice trailed off as he saw a few of his friends enter through the revolving bookcase, "I'll see you guys there." He jogged over to join them, with a "Hey, Banks – wait up!"

Anna turned back to the notice posted on the wall. "With the Hufflepuffs," she commented. "That's nice. Susan Bones is really sweet."

"Certainly better than the Slytherins," commented Mandy. "So, how do you know Roger Davies anyway?"

"Oh," Anna replied, remembering that her old friend had a new name to get used to. "Well, he was at the orphanage with me."

"Roger was an orphan too?" asked Padma incredulously.

"Yes. He was adopted by the Davies around the same time as I went to work at the Snydley-Pinkenweiler's."

Mandy snorted. "Sorry, I just can't get over that name."

"Well," said Anna with a sigh, "it certainly suited them."

"Were they really awful?" asked Lisa, her round eyes full of sympathy.

"Fairly so," said Anna. "But I'd rather not talk about it. How about this Quidditch match?"

Padma then proceeded to tell them about the game, and the two teams playing, with a bit of help from Ophelia. Apparently Julie had been a chaser for Gryffindor, but had dropped out to concentrate on her NEWTS.

"Oliver Wood was not happy at all," she told them, in a hushed tone. "But Julie was adamant. Besides, as she said, they had a great reserve chaser last year – Alicia Spinnet. Julie and Angelina worked with her last year, and she says she's quite good. Angelina Johnson's the other chaser, along with Katie Bell. And the Weasley twins are the Beaters. Julie used to go over there to practice, especially when Charlie was still at home." She smiled a little at this. "Then Oliver is the keeper, of course. He's threatening to make her play Seeker if they can't find one – and Julie detests playing Seeker." Ophelia looked up in surprise as the grandfather clock chimed eight. "Oh! Time to start homework."

It had become a routine for all five to sit in a circle in front of the Ravenclaw fireplace and do their work. Anna rather enjoyed it, sitting there, mostly silent. Occasionally Mandy would send them all into giggles, or Lisa would ask a question about some aspect of the wizarding world. Sometimes Greymalkin would saunter down from the dorms, and sit purring on Anna's lap. Once work was done, the five would sit there, just talking, or playing a game of wizard chess, or reading.

It was very odd, thought Anna, as she dozed off to sleep that night, but very wonderful that she had found friends like these – even better than books.